In what has been called the single largest wave of recorded suicides in human history, Indian farmers are now killing themselves in record numbers. It has been extensively reported, even in mainstream news, but nothing has been done about the issue. The cause? Monsanto’s cost-inflated and ineffective seeds have been driving farmers to suicide, and is considered to be one of the largest — if not the largest — cause of the quarter of a million farmer suicides over the past 16 years.

According to the most recent figures (provided by the New York University School of Law), 17,638 Indian farmers committed suicide in 2009 — about one death every 30 minutes. In 2008, the Daily Mail labeled the continual and disturbing suicide spree as ‘The GM (genetically modified) Genocide’. Due to failing harvests and inflated prices that bankrupt the poor farmers, struggling Indian farmers began to kill themselves. Oftentimes, they would commit the act by drinking the very same insecticide that Monsanto supplied them with — a gruesome testament to the extent in which Monsanto has wrecked the lives of independent and traditional farmers.

To further add backing to the tragedy, the rate of Indian farmer suicides massively increased since the introduction of Monsanto’s Bt cotton in 2002. It is no wonder that a large percentage of farmers who take their own lives are cotton farmers, the demographic that is thought to be among the most impacted. Dr. Mercola, an osteopathic doctor that has been educating the world about natural health for many years, recently saw the destruction of traditional Indian farmers first hand. Dr. Mercola found out about the notorious ‘suicide belt’ of India, where 4,238 farmer suicides took place in 2007 alone.

Many families are now ruined thanks to the mass suicides, and are left to economic ruin and must struggle to fight off starvation:

‘We are ruined now,’ said one dead man’s 38-year-old wife. ‘We bought 100 grams of BT Cotton. Our crop failed twice. My husband had become depressed. He went out to his field, lay down in the cotton and swallowed insecticide.’

In India, around 60 percent of the population (currently standing at 1.1 billion) are directly or indirectly reliant on agriculture. Monsanto’s intrusion into India’s traditional and sustainable farming community is not only concerning for health and wellness reasons, but it is now clear that the issue is much more serious.

WSHINGTON – Suicides are surging among America's troops, averaging nearly one a day this year -- the fastest pace in the nation's decade of war.

The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan -- about 50 percent more -- according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior.

Because suicides had leveled off in 2010 and 2011, this year's upswing has caught some officials by surprise...

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Nearly 1 in 6 high school students has seriously considered suicide, and 1 in 12 has attempted it, according to the semi-annual survey on youth risk behavior published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More female teens than males have attempted or considered suicide, the survey found. The rate was highest among Hispanic females, at 13.5%, and lowest among white males, at 4.6%. Students struggled with suicide more during the first two years of high school - roughly ages 14 to 16. Rates dropped off slightly when students reached junior and senior year.

Overall, the suicide rate among teens has climbed in the past few years, from 6.3% in 2009 to 7.8% in 2011, numbers which reflect the trend gaining national attention as more teen suicides are reported as a result of bullying.

According to the survey about 20% of high-schoolers said they'd been bullied while at school, and 16% said they'd been 'cyberbullied' through email, chat, instant messaging, social media or texting....

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

One more Greek man decided to put an end to a live without perspective. A 36-year-old man jumped to a tragic and immediate death from the balcony of the family home in Sepolia suburb of Western Athens.

Greek media citing neighbors of the man, report that the former tax driver was without job for the last two years and that he was living with his parents. His father, also a taxi driver was without a job and the family had economic problems having to come along with the small income of the mother.

He committed suicide on Tuesday afternoon, while his parents were away from home.

A pensioner,75, shot himself with a rifle in the middle of the street on Tuesday morning in Athens, while a 70-year-old farmer killed himself by swallowing pesticide in Crete.

It is the third suicide within the last 24 hours, and the fifth since the beginning of the month…

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

One more Greek man decided to put an end to a live without perspective. A 36-year-old man jumped to a tragic and immediate death from the balcony of the family home in Sepolia suburb of Western Athens.

Greek media citing neighbors of the man, report that the former tax driver was without job for the last two years and that he was living with his parents. His father, also a taxi driver was without a job and the family had economic problems having to come along with the small income of the mother.

He committed suicide on Tuesday afternoon, while his parents were away from home.

A pensioner,75, shot himself with a rifle in the middle of the street on Tuesday morning in Athens, while a 70-year-old farmer killed himself by swallowing pesticide in Crete.

It is the third suicide within the last 24 hours, and the fifth since the beginning of the month…

Once the crap hits the fan (economic collapse) there are going to be a lot of suicides because people aren't as tough as they use to be. They are too spoiled and mentally too weak.

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I'M A DEPLORABLE KNUCKLEHEAD THAT SUPPORTS PRESIDENT TRUMP. MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND KEEP HIM SAFE.

LARGO, Florida - A Largo teen has died from his injuries after shooting himself while playing Russian Roulette.

Pinellas County Sheriff's detectives say 17-year-old Thorin Montgomery and three teenaged friends were on the back porch of his house along 111th Way North in Largo Friday night, playing with a .38 caliber revolver.

Thorin was the first of his friends to have a turn when the gun fired, shooting him in the head. ...Detectives will not say right now where the teens got the gun.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Conditions facing active military service members and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan amount to nothing less than a social crisis. According to a report obtained from the Pentagon by the Associated Press, more American armed forces active service members have killed themselves in the first six months of 2012 than in the first six months of any of the previous 11 years.

The devastating report reveals that a total of 154 soldiers killed themselves in the first 155 days of 2012. The number of deaths by suicide is 50 percent higher than combat deaths in Afghanistan during the same period and represents an 18 percent increase over active service member suicides in the first six months of 2011.

Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001, there has been an average of one suicide every 36 hours in the US armed forces. In 2011, 19.5 percent of all active duty deaths were suicides—the second highest cause of death. From 2005 to 2009 alone, over 1,100 soldiers killed themselves.

These disturbing statistics expose the inhumane hypocrisy of the American ruling class and their political representatives who have fanned the flames of war in Afghanistan and Iraq. To the ruling elite, soldiers are nothing more than disposable tools that deserve no attention when they return in shambles from the battlefield.

US Army Maj. General Dana Pittard spoke for a layer of the ruling class when he stated in January, 2012: “I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act… I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

Pittard has subsequently backtracked on his statement, but has refused to apologize.

The depth of the misery and trauma that veterans face upon their return adds a deeper layer to the crisis. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 18 veterans kill themselves each day. This astonishing number amounts to one suicide every 80 minutes. The Army Times also reported that in fiscal year 2009, 1,868 veterans attempted suicide.

As Nick Kristat of the New York Times recently pointed out, veteran suicide statistics show that for every soldier that dies in combat, 25 more kill themselves. The Veterans Administration (VA) claims that its 24-hour suicide hotline has received over 400,000 phone calls since its founding in 2007.

A report by the Chronicle of Higher Education contends that half of veterans in college have contemplated suicide, while 20 percent have made plans to do so. Nearly half showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while a third suffer from severe anxiety and a fourth from severe depression.

Additionally, a total of 936,000 soldiers have been diagnosed with at least one mental issue since 2000, and veterans aged 17-24 are almost four times as likely as non-veterans of their age group to kill themselves.

Other reports have attempted to shed light on the reasons behind these numbers.

As AJ would say, "Please continue Geo." Give us more info on Gen. Pittard.

Guess ya didn't read the above article too thoroughly.

"US Army Maj. General Dana Pittard spoke for a layer of the ruling class when he stated in January, 2012: 'I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act… I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.'"

As our nation and world continue in most every aspect, to degenerate spiraling downward, we will see increasing cases of suicide. I believe this is but another aspect and ploy being used against humanity by the NWO. They care not how depopulation is achieved so long as they are not caught deploying their evil agenda. The psychological aspect of the human condition can be used against the individual and is a powerful weapon.

"US Army Maj. General Dana Pittard spoke for a layer of the ruling class when he stated in January, 2012: 'I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act… I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.'"

I was in a hurry. The title was enough to tick me off.

Thank you for the information.

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I'M A DEPLORABLE KNUCKLEHEAD THAT SUPPORTS PRESIDENT TRUMP. MAY GOD BLESS HIM AND KEEP HIM SAFE.

Pittard's full, original paragraph in the January column stated: Suicide ? A Selfish Act - Wednesday (January 18), we lost a Fort Bliss Soldier to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. I heard the tragic news as I walked out of a memorial service for another one of our Soldiers who decided to kill himself at home on Christmas Day so that his family would find him. Christmas will never be the same for his two young daughters he left behind. I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act.Soldiers who commit suicide leave their families, their buddies and their units to literally clean up their mess. There is nothing noble about suicide. I care about each and every one of our Soldiers, family members and civilians at Fort Bliss. I know there are a lot of people hurting out there, especially with the future Army personnel cuts on the horizon. If you are hurting mentally or emotionally, then seek and get help; but don?t resort to taking your own life. I am personally fed up with Soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.SEEK HELP! If you need help, please call 915-779-1800 or 800-273-TALK (8255). It is a confidential call. Please look after each other; please do not allow your buddy to make a rash decision that will have permanent life-ending consequences. Choose life.

I care about each and every one of our Soldiers, family members and civilians at Fort Bliss.

No, General, aside from your upcoming round of golf, you and other top brass "care" about one thing and one thing only -- how tragedies like this make you look bad -- and the troops you so love to lecture like school children all know it.

If you are the parent of a young man who is thinking about joining the armed forces, permit me to offer advice:

Tell him not to. Be emphatic about it.

I've spent much of my life around the military — grew up on a military base, drove AMTRACS for the Marines in Vietnam, and spent decades covering the military as a reporter. I didn't do the Pentagon. Usually I didn't know who the Joint Chiefs of Staff were. I spent my working hours with the troops, in the tanks and fighters, aboard the carriers, in the jungles and swamps and war zones. It made me hard to con.

An observation: The armed services are today in the worst shape I have seen, and I remember the days of the post-Vietnam slump. You don't want your kid in this military.

You don't understand how bad it is.

This country characteristically goes into wars unprepared, and kills off large numbers of young men while trying to make up lost time. We then tell ourselves stories about the heroism of the needlessly dead, and about the evil Japanese and dastardly Viet Cong. We did this in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. We're getting ready to do it again. The military has decayed since the Gulf war, decayed badly. The public just doesn't know it. If a substantial war comes, soldiers will, again, die for no reason. Your son could be one of them.

He needs to know this. He also needs to understand that neither the political nor the military leadership much cares whether he lives or dies. Their careers come first. You doubtless think this sounds extreme, embittered, paranoid. And yes, any general officer will tell you that, why, he lives for the troops, cares for nothing else. He's a soldier's general.

Yeah.

In Vietnam, it was for some time military policy that enlisted men in the infantry spent 13 months in the field. Their officers often spent only six. If you don't believe this, check it out. The officers were getting their tickets punched: Combat command looked good on a promotion record. The Career. On the other hand, if you stayed out there too long, you might get shot. The fleshpots of Saigon were succulent. The consequence of course was that field troops always had green, inexperienced officers.

There were too many ticket-punchers. Officers who won't take the same risks their troops take are . . . I think the word is "cowards."

Guess what generation of officers is now reaching the top at the Pentagon. You don't want this crew commanding your kid.

Further, note that the United States regularly, with the occasional exception, puts politics ahead of the lives of its troops. Remember the 241 Marines killed in Beirut when their barracks was blown up by the terrorist truck? I was there on a story a couple of weeks before it happened. Know who killed those guys?

The United States.

It went like this. Coming down the road from the airport in Beirut, to get to the Marines you turned right on a small road that had a guard post with two Marine guards. Their rifles were at sling arms, no round in the chamber. Loaded rifles might cause an incident, and, hey, you can always get more Marines. Simply driving past the guards would have been — as it turned out, was — effortless.

A few feet later you turned right through one of those flimsy stick things that go up and down to stop traffic at toll booths. I probably could have broken through it without a truck. A few feet later you were in the middle of the Marine position.

Which is what the driver of the suicide truck did. Easy.

The Marines were undefended, naked, in a city known to be full of terrorists. Why? Because the State Department didn't want to look too military. We sacrificed our own men to keep up appearances for a pack of cookie-pushers in Washington. They'll do it again.

The foregoing is the norm. (We did the same thing in Mogadishu, for example.) Today politicization of the military is worse by far than it has ever been. The emphasis is overwhelmingly on social engineering: sensitivity training, toleration of homosexuals, feminization, promotion of minorities. Affirmative action runs rampant. Standards have been lowered drastically for women, many of them using the military as an improved form of welfare. Discipline has suffered. Commanders cannot discipline the protected groups, which makes it hard to discipline anyone.

If you think I'm kidding, talk to someone you know who is in.

Unsurprisingly, morale is way down. Equipment ages. The services are hemorrhaging young officers in the O-3 range (Army captain). Key enlisted men bail out. Second-raters move up the ranks. No, not all of them are, but too many. In war, there will be a price for this. Your boy, or someone else's. Getting the body bag isn't fun.

For eight years we have had an administration that is actually hostile to the military. This is new. Before, presidents have alternated between neglect and build-up, but haven't had the visceral loathing for the armed services that Bill Clinton has professed. To me, the damage looks deliberate. Nothing like the current wholesale gutting of the services by angry feminists has happened before. We have never had a government that would have allowed it.

The generals know all of this. They're self-serving, but they aren't fools. They are knowingly, willingly, allowing the institutions they oversee to deteriorate, while relentlessly lying to stay in their jobs. (The Marines remain stubbornly resistant, but they too are being slowly Clintoned down.) The brass know their troops regard them with contempt. They know why soldiers bail out. They don't care. Commanders like this — I don't think they can be called men — will preside over a slaughter if war comes.

You don't want your kid there. Especially if he is smart and gung-ho. If he just wants to get salable training, and get out, the services are probably a good idea. Electronics is always a good choice. The military is a good place for a woman who wants to have her baby and isn't sure which division is the father. But for a young man who wants to be part of something he can be proud of, a hard-charger who sets high standards for himself, it's a bad idea. He'll hate it. It will hate him. Should we ever need the military, it just might kill him. Don't let him do it.

Lobsang Lozin, a monk from Gyalrong Tsodrun Kirti Monastaery in BharkhamDzong, a small county township in Ngaba (Ch:Aba, Sichuan) set himself on fire around noon on Tuesday and died on the spot.

A source in India told VOA that the 18-year old took up to 80 steps towards government buildings while still ablaze and shouted slogans, although the words he was saying could not be verified at this time.

A photograph of Lobsang Lozin collapsed in the street and in flames show several onlookers with hands clasped in prayer.

Lobsang Lozin belonged to the Khargotsang family at Sholachang villageand the son of Jorgyal and Tsepopo. According to sources, the young monk was a highly popular and successful student in his monastery.

Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti Monastery is one of the branch monasteries of Kirti monastery in Ngaba town, which has been under severe restrictions and re-education campaigns since 2008, and where the majority of the self-immolations over the last two years have occurred.

Immediately following Lozin’s self-immolation, a heavy contingent of armed police were reported moving towards the monastery and local Tibetans are said to have blocked a bridge, possibly in an effort to prevent Lozin’s body from being taken away.

It is not known as of this time whether the security forces reacted with violence to the bridge blockade as they have done in similar past incidences in Tibetan areas of Sichuan. Fellow monks had taken Lobsang Lozin’s body to the monastery where prayers and rituals for the deceased were started, and where he is planned to be cremated later in the evening. Last March, two monks from the same monastery, Chime Palden and Tenpa Dhargyal, had also self-immolated and died.

Lobsang Lozin is the 44th Tibetan to have set themselves on fire in Tibet in protest against Chinese policies and governance, while calling for the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet.

China’s reactions to the self- immolations taking place across all Tibetan territories has shifted from time to time. Beiijing has called the protesters ‘terrorists’, social failures and outcasts, people who are easily manipulated by ‘outside forces’, and blamed the Dalai Lama, but have not started a serious investigation into the underlying causes of any one of the 44 cases to date.

Exile Tibetan authorities and groups say that the acts are born out of desperation stemming from repressive pressures on Tibetan lives and culture and that China’s routine use of detention and torture against Tibetan demonstrators leave no other options for expressing grievances.

A teenage Tibetan monk in Sichuan Province died on Tuesday after setting himself on fire in what has become an increasingly familiar protest against harsh government policies in the region, exile groups said.

The monk, Lobsang Lozin, 18, from the Gyalrong Tsodun Kirti Monastery in Ngaba, an autonomous Tibetan prefecture, died around noon, shortly after igniting his fuel-soaked garments near the monastery. Witnesses quoted by the Tibetan government in exile said he shouted slogans before he collapsed.

It was the 44th self-immolation since the suicidal protests began in 2009. In March, two monks from the same monastery died after setting themselves on fire.

The Chinese news media did not immediately report Tuesday's death, but in the past it has portrayed the spate of self-immolations as acts of terrorism orchestrated by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader. He has denied the accusations, saying that protesters are motivated by a widely held belief that government policies in the region restrict religious practices and are a threat to Tibetan culture and language [i.e. DEMOCIDE ] .

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Europe is approaching a crisis as the region’s debt crisis and austerity measures increase the rates of depression, suicide and psychological problems – just as governments cut healthcare spending by up to 50 percent, according to campaigners, policy makers and health organizations

A growing number of global and European health bodies are warning that the introduction and intensification of austerity measures has led to a sharp rise in mental health problems with suicide rates, alcohol abuse and requests for anti-depressants increasing as people struggle with the psychological cost of living through a European-wide recession.

“No one should be surprised that factors such as unemployment, debt and relationship breakdowns can cause bouts of mental illness and may push people who are already vulnerable to take their own lives,” Richard Colwill, of the British mental health charity Sane, told CNBC.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

THURSDAY, Sept. 20 (HealthDay News) -- More Americans now commit suicide than die in car crashes, making suicide the leading cause of injury deaths, according to a new study.

In addition, over the last 10 years, while the number of deaths from car crashes has declined, deaths from poisoning and falls increased significantly, the researchers report.

"Suicides are terribly undercounted; I think the problem is much worse than official data would lead us to believe," said study author Ian Rockett, a professor of epidemiology at West Virginia University.

There may be 20 percent or more unrecognized suicides, he said.

Many of the poisoning deaths may actually be intended, he added. A lot of these deaths are due from overdoses of prescription drugs, Rockett noted.

"We have a situation that has gotten out of hand," he said. "I would like to see the same attention paid to other injuries as has been paid to traffic injuries."

The report was published online Sept. 20 in the American Journal of Public Health.

For the study, Rockett's team used data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics to determine the cause of injury deaths from 2000 to 2009.

The leading causes of unintentional deaths were car accidents, poisoning and falls, and for intentional deaths they were suicide and homicide.

Deaths from intentional and unintentional injury were 10 percent higher in 2009 than in 2000, the researchers noted.

And although deaths from car crashes declined 25 percent, deaths from poisoning rose 128 percent, deaths from falls increased 71 percent and deaths from suicides rose 15 percent, according to the study.

Suicide is now the first cause of injury deaths, followed by car crashes, poisoning, falls and murder, Rockett said.

Fewer women die from these causes than men, the researchers noted. In addition, blacks and Hispanics have fewer car crashes and suicides, but higher murder rates than whites, they found.

Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, said, "Both global and national increases in the number and rate of suicides through 2009, and as even more recent data indicates, through 2010, should concern all of us."

...

In 2009, more than 37,000 Americans took their own lives, and more than 500,000 were at risk of suicide, according to Pamela Hyde, administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The new program will have $56 million of federal money to help fund suicide prevention programs under the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. The act was signed into law in memory of the son of Gordon Smith, president of the National Association of Broadcasters and a former U.S. Senator, who took his own life nine years ago.

"Our goal is, in the next five years, we will save 20,000 human lives," Smith said at a Sept. 10 news conference. "This issue touches nearly every family. It is something we can do something about. It's the work of angels."

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

JERUSALEM — Moshe Silman, the desperately indebted Haifa man who set himself aflame last weekend as part of a social justice protest in Tel Aviv, died Friday from the second- and third-degree burns over 94 percent of his body.

In the year since 400,000 people filled Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard last summer, setting off a national protest movement, Mr. Silman, 57, had become a fixture of demonstrations in Haifa. His self-immolation stunned but also galvanized the protest movement, which had been struggling to find its footing. ...Several other Israelis attempted self-immolation over the past week, and leaders of the social justice demonstrations in Haifa have been grappling with the shift in tone.

“He sacrificed himself,” his sister, Bat Zion Elul, who made the decision to take him off life support, said in an interview with Channel 2 News broadcast on Friday. “He really sacrificed himself for the sake of others, for those who are in the same position as him, who don’t have anything.”

The son of Holocaust survivors, Mr. Silman had once run his own messenger service, but the business struggled after the second intifada. A small debt from the National Insurance Institute spiraled out of control, and his applications for public housing were repeatedly rejected. He later suffered a stroke and was declared disabled. Mr. Silman never married or had children.

Friends said he was on the brink of homelessness when he arrived at the Tel Aviv protest Saturday night with gasoline and a suicide note.

In the past weeks, the streets of Tel Aviv have been witness to desperate people setting themselves on fire in protest at the growing social and economic inequalities and the rising cost of living in Israel....

The death of Silman ignited widespread anger and frustration among the Israelis who have poured into the streets of Tel Aviv en masse since early July to call on the government to meet their socioeconomic demands in the light of the unprecedented recession and economic crisis in Europe....

Before committing suicide, Silman wrote a letter, part of which reads, "I have no money for medicine or rent. I can’t make the money after I have paid my millions in taxes I did the army, and until age 46 I did reserve duty. I refuse to be homeless; this is why I am protesting."...According to New Israel Fund, 20 percent of the Israeli citizens and one in three children live below the poverty line....

An estimated 300,000 Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against the high cost of living and for social justice.

By ISABEL KERSHNERPublished: September 3, 2011

JERUSALEM — As many as 400,000 Israelis demonstrated on Saturday night against the high cost of living and for social justice in one of the largest protests in the nation’s history, although questions remained about about what it might achieve

The mass protest across the country had been planned for weeks and was considered by many to be the grand finale of the street phase of the social dissent that has swept Israel this summer. Organizers initially billed it as a million-person march, but had tried to lower expectations over the last few days, saying that it would be considered a success if the turnout equaled the 300,000 people who took to the streets on Aug. 6.

The police estimated that more than 300,000 people turned out on Saturday night, but a company monitoring the turnout for the Israeli news media said the total was about 400,000, with almost 300,000 gathering in Tel Aviv alone. Tens of thousands more rallied in Jerusalem, Haifa and other cities. ...The protests began over the lack of affordable housing, but grew to encompass calls for tax reform and the creation of a welfare state, among other demands.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Torrevecchia Teatina, Italy (CNN) -- Six months ago, an Italian bricklayer behind on his taxes wrote a note to his wife of 27 years, then doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire outside a Bologna tax office. Giuseppe Campaniello died nine days later.

"He was a good person," said his widow, Tiziana. "He wasn't given a chance to redeem himself because that's what he wanted to do. If Giuseppe had had the chance, he would have paid his debt, not what they wanted him to pay because he wasn't earning 20,000 euros a month."

She has joined with other women whose husbands took their lives to form a group called the "Vedove Bianche" - the white widows - to show that in this long drawn out economic crisis, the cost cannot be calculated on a tax form.

Italy's "white widows" are the most recent example of the emotional toll the debt crisis and austerity measures are taking on Europe. In the first half of last year, suicide rates in Greece skyrocketed more than 40% year on year, according to Greek health ministry data. In the UK -- not a part of the eurozone, but whose economy is also struggling as it enters a double-dip recession -- researchers wrote last month in the British Journal of Medicine that the 2008-2010 recession may have led more than 1,000 people to commit suicide.

Understanding 'debt suicide' in Greece

Now as Italy, the eurozone's third largest economy, faces market pressure to make cuts after its borrowing costs rose dangerously high, "austerity suicides" that spiked in Greece are now being seen here.

For decades, it was common for Italians to avoid paying their full taxes, but with the financial crisis, tax collection has become more aggressive.

Mounting tax troubles, and financial hardship, have driven some to take their lives. Although statistics are hard to come by, one Italian small business association claims suicides related to economic hardship are twice what they were 10 years ago.

Rome businessman Mario Frasacco, 59, shot himself in the chest last April. The factory he ran, which produced aluminum fittings, is now padlocked and its 10 workers unemployed.

Family tragedy tells the story of Greece

Frasacco's daughter, Giorgia, worked with him and knew he was having financial difficulties, but hadn't the slightest hint he was contemplating suicide. "The day before he killed himself, I said goodbye to him as I always did before going home," she recalled. "I never read in his eyes any discomfort that would lead to this. After five months, I can't find a justification for what he did."

For the survivors of these economic suicides, there is anger that the government tried to maximize revenues and spending cuts, no matter the human cost. For Tiziana, she is left with questions of how to cope -- emotionally and financially -- in the aftermath of her husband's death.

"Who will hire me at 48-years-old, nearly 49? Who?" she asks. "Where can I go? Should I become a prostitute? Because that's where they're taking us. Or should I commit suicide and just get out of the way and be one less problem for the government?"

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos promised on Monday that no needy family will go homeless over mortgage arrears, responding to public fury at a homeowner's suicide as she was being evicted.

Facing accusations that politicians and banks are complicit in de facto "murder", Spain's banking association said its members would suspend eviction orders for two years for those borrowers worst hit by economic crisis and record unemployment.

Banks have repossessed close to 400,000 homes in Spain since a property bubble burst in 2008 and the nation subsequently sank into recession, throwing millions out of work and unable to keep up mortgage payments to the banks.

Last Friday's suicide of 53-year-old Amaia Egana has inflamed a public already angered by what they see as a lack of compassion among Spanish banks, many of which have benefited from taxpayer-funded bailouts organized by the political elite.

Egana, a former Socialist councilor in northern Spain, jumped to her death from her fourth-floor flat as bailiffs were trying to evict her under foreclosure laws....DESPERATE HOMEOWNERS

Egana's death, and another eviction-related suicide in October, have intensified a popular backlash with many accusing the banks - some of which will receive part of an up to 100 billion euro European bailout - of callous disregard for the effects of unemployment, which has hit 25 percent....Under Spanish law, even when borrowers turn over their homes to the bank, they still owe the entire amount of the mortgage. ...

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Around the time of recession rocked the United States, its population experienced a disturbing shift: Today, suicide takes more American lives than any other form of injury.

Between 2000 and 2008 motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death by injury, but suicide surpassed car crashes in 2009, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Public Health. The switch is the culmination of a decade-long trend; the rate of death by suicide increased by 15 percent over the past ten years, while the unintentional motor vehicle crash death rate dropped by 25 percent during that same period.

The study didn’t specifically factor in economic conditions, but many have speculated that the downturn may be responsible for a boost in suicides in America and around the world. In Greece, the suicide rate for men rose by 24 percent between 2007 and 2009, according to The New York Times. Suicides motivated by economic crisis grew by 52 percent in Italy in 2010. ...Tragically, there are plenty of anecdotal examples of “economic suicide” in the country. A Tennessee man lit himself on fire earlier this year after finding out he wouldn’t be getting financial help from a private organization. And in May, a California man shot and killed himself in the midst of a legal battle with Wells Fargo, while he faced the prospect of foreclosure.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

In 2010, for the second year in a row, more American soldiers killed themselves than died in combat. Military officials knew they had an epidemic on their hands, but they didn't know how to mitigate the hyper-complex problem. It wasn't as easy as saying, "they all have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder," because a significant number of the soldiers who were killing themselves had never even seen combat....

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

A new study finds college students who use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes are at increased risk of depression and thoughts of suicide.

The researchers analyzed the answers of 26,600 college students who participated in a national research survey by the American College Health Association. They were asked about their non-medical prescription drug use, including painkillers, antidepressants, sedatives and stimulants, as well as their mental health symptoms in the past year....About 13 percent of students reported non-medical prescription drug use, Science Daily reports. Those who reported feeling sad, hopeless, depressed or considered suicide were significantly more likely to report non-medical use of any prescription drug. The link between these feelings and prescription drug abuse was more pronounced in females, the researchers report in Addictive Behaviors. The researchers conclude that students may be inappropriately self-medicating psychological distress with prescription medications.

“Because prescription drugs are tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and prescribed by a doctor, most people perceive them as ‘safe’ and don’t see the harm in sharing with friends or family if they have a few extra pills left over,” researcher Amanda Divin of Western Illinois University said in a news release.

“Unfortunately, all drugs potentially have dangerous side effects.

As our study demonstrates, use of prescription drugs — particularly painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin — is related to depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in college students. This is why use of such drugs need to be monitored by a doctor and why mental health outreach on college campuses is particularly important.”

From 2005 to 2009, suicide attempts in which drugs played some role rose from 11,235 to 16,757 among women ages 50 and up, a federal survey found. The increase, driven in part by the last of the Baby Boomers entering their sixth decade, provides a new example of the toll wrought by the nation's prescription painkiller epidemic.

In 2009, 16 million Americans age 12 and up had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant or sedative for non-medical reasons in the previous year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Cody Miller was a high school football player who was allergic to ragweed. Douglas Briggs was a doctor coping with pain from an old back injury.

Both are now dead, hanging victims driven to suicide, their families believe, when drugs prescribed to relieve physical symptoms upset their mental and emotional balance.

Federal drug regulators are investigating to see if the families could be right.

Until now, the Food and Drug Administration's attention to the suicide risks of medications has focused on psychiatric drugs, such as antidepressants prescribed to youngsters. But this year, officials unexpectedly broadened their concerns to include a medication for asthma, drugs for controlling seizures and even one for quitting smoking. Those are medical conditions not usually associated with psychiatric disorders.

Several independent experts say the safety alarms point to a gap in the FDA's knowledge of how drugs affect the brain. Even if medications are intended for physical conditions, some drugs can have unforeseen consequences if they are able to enter the brain.

A group at Columbia University has developed a method for assessing the suicide risks of drugs, possibly helping identify risks before a medication goes on the market. But the FDA only requires use of such assessments on a case-by-case basis.

Drug companies say no cause-and-effect link has been established that would tie the medications under scrutiny to suicides.

Also, some doctors worry that the talk of suicide may scare patients with serious illnesses away from drugs that could help. For example, depression —a major risk factor for suicide — is associated with physical illness, they note.

The Miller and Briggs families say their lives were turned upside down without warning. Cody Miller, 15, began using Singulair for his allergies in the summer of 2007. He switched from a different drug after a new doctor assured his mother that once-a-day Singulair was better.

When the teenager became moody and anxious, his parents were surprised. He had no history of emotional problems. But they did not connect it to the drug. Physical reactions such as a rash or indigestion are easy to recognize; mental health side effects can be confused with everyday ups and downs.

About two weeks after he started taking his new medication, he hanged himself in an upstairs closet of the family home in Queensbury, N.Y., about 50 miles north of Albany.

Some two months later, the company that makes Singulair updated its prescribing literature to report that some patients had experienced suicidal thinking and behavior. But Merck & Co. said that only may be a coincidence because there were no such reports during controlled clinical trials with the drug.

"Singulair is a really effective drug that has been on the market 10 years and has been taken by millions of patients," said Dr. Alan Ezekowitz, an asthma expert with Merck. "In over 40 placebo-controlled trials, no reports of suicide in Singulair-treated groups have been found."

An independent study by the American Lung Association supports Merck's conclusion without completely answering the question. The research looked at measures of emotional well-being in three clinical trials sponsored by the association and found a positive effect on emotional outlook in patients taking Singulair.

But the study, set to appear Monday in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was not designed specifically to look for suicidal thinking or actions. "The evidence is good, but we couldn't call it perfect," said Dr. Norman Edelman, the group's chief medical officer.

Cody's mother said that if she had had any inkling of a problem, she would not have allowed her son to take Singulair. Merck and the FDA should have warned parents more forcefully, Kate Miller said. Cody was her only child. "When you don't know what to look for, it's pretty sad," Miller said.

Briggs, 54, was a family doctor practicing near Charlotte, N.C. In his 30s, Briggs had injured his back in a car crash. Three surgeries over the years failed to completely resolve his problem. But Briggs stayed active, playing tennis and basketball. In February 2004, he began taking Neurontin, an epilepsy drug also prescribed for nerve-related pain and used for chronic back trouble.

His wife and two sons noticed a change.

"He started developing uncharacteristic mood swings and irritability," said son Andrew Briggs, who works as a consultant in Washington. "He began talking about losing the desire to practice medicine, even though it was a great passion of his."

Briggs' family wondered what was going on. They did not connect the changes to Neurontin.

On Christmas Day in 2004, Briggs wanted to be alone. He urged his family to go see a movie. They picked a zany comedy. When they returned, they found he had hanged himself in the foyer of their home.

"For a guy who was such a family man to do that in a way that would basically ensure his family would be the first to find him was completely baffling," Andrew Briggs said.

Pfizer Inc., which makes Neurontin, said that since the drug was first marketed in the 1990s, the prescribing literature had listed "suicidal" and "suicidal gesture" as rarely reported adverse events seen in clinical trials. But Pfizer does not believe such reactions were connected to taking Neurontin and the company remains confident in the drug.

"Neurontin is an important medicine that has helped millions of patients with serious conditions," Pfizer said in a statement. "Based on an extensive review of our clinical trial data for Neurontin, we see no evidence to support the claim that Neurontin causes an increased risk of suicide-related events."

After Briggs' killed himself, the family started hearing about other Neurontin patients who had committed suicide, Andrew Briggs said. The family is suing Pfizer; their lawyer said there are about 250 such lawsuits.

This summer, the FDA convened a panel of scientific advisers to evaluate the suicide risks of 11 anti-seizure drugs, including Neurontin. Crunching data from 210 clinical trials, the agency found a small increased risk: two of 1,000 patients taking the medications experienced suicidal thoughts or behavior. When millions of people are taking a drug, even such slim odds can have significant consequences.

The advisory panel accepted the FDA's findings, but voted against imposing the government's strongest warning on the drugs, saying that could do more harm than good. The FDA is considering how to communicate the risks to patients.

"Even though a drug is identified as a drug for weight control, or smoking cessation, or asthma, these drugs often also get into the brain, so there is always the potential for having psychiatric side effects," said Dr. Thomas Laughren, head of the FDA's division of psychiatric products. "But we don't have any unifying hypothesis as to why very different classes of drugs have psychiatric side effects."

With mental health side effects, one of the first questions scientists ask is whether a drug can affect the brain. Not all do, because the brain is protected by a cellular barrier that keeps out many substances circulating in the blood. Neurontin does work in the human brain. With Singulair, Merck said tests on rats showed that minimal amounts enter the brain, and there is no data on humans.

The FDA has other tools to assess the suicide risks of medications. Researchers at Columbia University have developed a system for collecting and analyzing data about suicidal thoughts and actions among people who enroll in drug trials. The FDA helped pay for the research, but the agency does not require drug makers to use the system, a puzzling oversight to independent experts.

"I can't see any reason why it should not be widely and regularly used during drug development," said Larry Sasich, a professor of pharmacy practice at the Lake Erie School of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, Pa. "It has been validated and appears to be a technique that is not expensive."

But Laughren, the FDA official, said that while many drugs can get into the brain, "there is no compelling reason to think that more than a few are associated with suicidality." With the FDA reluctant to issue a mandate for suicide screening, families who find themselves in the same predicament as the Millers and the Briggs may be left with unresolved questions.

"Whether or not any of these drugs cause suicidal thoughts and behavior is the critical question we need to answer; up to now, we have not answered that," said Kelly Posner, a Columbia researcher who led the effort to develop the screening system. "Debunking false notions of risk is just as important to the public health as knowing about risks that exist."

A list of some prescription medications for which concerns have been raised involving suicidal thoughts and actions:

— All antidepressants. Drugs such as Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin and Zoloft carry required warnings that the medications can increase suicidal thinking and behavior in some children, adolescents and young adults.

— Anticonvulsives. Drugs such as Depakote, Lyrica and Neurontin are used to treat seizures and other conditions. A recent FDA analysis found a small increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior. An advisory panel recommended against applying the agency's strongest warning to the drugs.— Chantix. The FDA is investigating whether the smoking cessation drug triggers psychiatric symptoms.— Singulair. The FDA is investigating whether the drug for asthma and allergies can prompt suicidal thoughts.— Accutane. The acne drug carries a warning that it may cause suicidal thoughts and behavior in rare cases.

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5

The growing link between prescription drug abuse and suicide brought experts from both fields together in Concord on Monday, where they highlighted the combined resources that will be needed to combat the problem.

“This is a big issue that needs to be addressed,” said Dr. Karene Simone, director of the Northern New England Poison Center. “The reason we’re all crossing over with each other is that a lot of these things are related.”

A growing number of suicides, and to a greater extent suicide attempts, involve powerful prescription drugs often found in medicine cabinets. Simone said a quarter of the calls her center receives relating to poisonings of people age 13 and older involve suicide attempts.

Intentional poisonings are “by far the most frequent method of suicide attempt in New Hampshire,” according to Linda Paquette, director of New Futures in Concord.

The issue is exacerbated because of broad cuts to substance abuse treatment and prevention programs. Already fewer than 6 percent of New Hampshire residents in need of substance abuse treatment can get it, the second-lowest rate in the country, she said.

“It’s kind of scary because it makes you wonder what’s going to happen now,” Simone said.

A large part of the lack of access is because New Hampshire is one of the few states that does not provide Medicaid coverage for substance abuse disorders, Paquette said.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young adults, ages 15-34, in New Hampshire, and 87 percent of hospital stays related to suicide attempts from 2004-08 were from overdoses.

Anti-depressants and benzodiazepines, which are sedatives, made up the most used drugs in suicide attempts, according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services. ...

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Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole ; He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. - Job 5